A MAN who claimed to be an internationally revered spiritual guru in order to rape and sexually assault potentially hundreds of women has been jailed for 10 years by a British judge. London's Wood Green Crown Court was told yesterday that Michael Lyons, 52, known as Mohan Singh, drugged and sexually assaulted women he had "groomed" with lies that he was a spiritual leader who had treated the Queen and counted the Dalai Lama and Hollywood actor Steven Seagal among his friends. Jamaican-born Lyons, who was raised in Manchester, northern England, was convicted on one count of rape and another of sexual assault by penetration, and placed on the sex offenders register for life as police were investigating further claims against him. The court was told Lyons also regularly extracted hundreds of pounds from each of his 40 female followers, using the money to buy cars and apartments in London, Los Angeles and Miami, all the while claiming that he was funding lamas to teach in the U.K. For more details, click here.

GRN correspondents Chris Walker and Larry Miller in London are available for coverage.